Drug use now common among working Finns, says addiction specialist

Drug use has become routine among ordinary working Finns, according to Kaarlo Simojoki, a specialist in addiction medicine and this year’s recipient of Finland’s Addiction Physician of the Year award.

Speaking to Yle, Simojoki said the shift marks a broader societal change: nearly half of Finns under 35 now report having tried illicit drugs, making experimentation the norm rather than the exception in younger age groups. He noted that while drug use remains less prevalent across the entire population, the trend signals a systemic shift in attitudes and behavior.

The most commonly used substances among working adults, based on Simojoki’s observations in occupational healthcare, include cocaine, amphetamines, cannabis, and occasionally opioid painkillers. Many users combine these with alcohol or prescription medications, often on a daily basis.

Simojoki, who previously worked in acute addiction treatment at A-Clinic Foundation before moving to private healthcare provider Mehiläinen three years ago, described encountering professionals from varied fields—lawyers using cocaine to enhance performance, teachers smoking cannabis to manage insomnia, and construction workers bingeing on amphetamines during weekends—all while maintaining jobs, families, and social lives.

The challenge, he said, lies in detection. Even with 25 years of experience, Simojoki admitted he might overlook a serious drug problem if the individual’s outward life—work, relationships, hobbies—appears stable. Use can remain hidden at work and even during medical consultations.

Once identified, however, intervention through occupational healthcare can yield rapid results. Simojoki has seen lives transform within weeks when treatment addresses the root causes of use—whether reducing workload for a cocaine-dependent manager, treating underlying anxiety for a teacher self-medicating with cannabis, or providing therapy for a construction worker’s identity crisis tied to weekend binges.

Critical to success, he emphasized, is dismantling the stigma that forces users into secrecy. “The process can only begin when someone is freed from the burden of shame and hiding,” Simojoki said.

He called for workplaces and healthcare providers to abandon what he termed a “double standard” that treats alcohol and drug problems differently. Employers, he argued, should focus less on legality and more on the tangible harms substance use poses to individuals, job performance, and workplace morale. Occupational health services, in turn, should prioritize harm reduction and functional recovery over moral judgments.

Simojoki framed drug problems as existing on a spectrum. At one end are individuals whose core life structures—jobs, families, homes—remain intact despite use. At the other are those for whom substances have replaced nearly everything else. Treatment approaches must adapt accordingly: for those in the latter group, survival may be the immediate goal, while for working professionals, addressing the drivers of use—stress, mental health, or existential crises—can lead to lasting change.